The S3 Platform welcomes the participation of 120 regions and Member States in 21 partnerships under the Agri-food, Energy and Industrial Modernisation Thematic platforms to investment pipeline projects. The Smart Region 2.0 event which will take place on 1-2 June 2017 in Helsinki, will enable stakeholders to meet and discuss on national and regional innovation investments and share experiences and lessons.

Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) aim at supporting companies to innovate through new digital technologies. The Smart Specialisation Platform and DG CONNECT have signed a new agreement to strengthen the work of DIHs through a range of activities. One of these is to develop an online tool to visualise DIHs' geographic location and provide information on available services and competencies. Moreover, interested regions can apply to be part of a pilot group focusing on good practices exploration and support for collaboration.

The Joint Research Centre has published a report on the innovation ecosystem of Espoo Innovation Garden and Aalto University (Finland). It aims to identify key success factors for the ecosystems, with particular attention to the role of Aalto University as an example of an entrepreneurial university.
The report finds that Aalto University is a strong orchestrating actor which has stimulated the synergistic activities of others thanks to its multi-disciplinary approach.

The goal of this event is to facilitate interregional cooperation among EU regions having solar energy as a priority within their Smart Specialisation Strategy. It will provide participants (regional and national authorities, firms, research institutions, clusters, and Industrial and Technological support
bodies, representatives from DGs REGIO, ENER and JRC) with the opportunity to build on a strategic agenda for the implementation of their S3 in the Solar field. It will take place on 17th May 2017 in Brussels.

Recently launched within Interreg Europe project, RELOS3 focuses on implementing regional Smart Specialisation Strategies in a local context by actively involving local authorities, innovation actors and companies. The project has 7 partners from 7 countries originating from Estonia, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain (lead partner). Bringing together local policy-makers, regional and national representatives in charge of RIS3 as well as experts, the first transnational event will focus on the alignment of local economic development strategies with RIS3 strategies, identifying both bottlenecks and solutions emerging in different European contexts. It will take place on 16-17th May 2017 in Malta.

In the framework of the 2017 International Conference on Local Development organised by the universities of Algarve, Insubria and Coimbra, a roundtable on Smart Specialisation and Local Development will be chaired by the JRC. It will explore how actors in local development can enhance their capabilities and link their own strategies to wider trends in research and innovation at regional, national and European level. It will consider how governance structures can be designed to increase the participation of locally driven clusters and development groups. The themes raised will both draw on and feed into the ongoing work of the JRC Lagging Regions project. It will take place on 25-26th May 2017 in Faro (Portugal).

The JPI Urban Europe conference "Engaging stakeholders for impact: the next step in urban transition" aims at identifying requirements and opportunities to enhance the impact of urban RDI investments, including those supported by Smart Specialisation Strategies, on urban sustainability and regional/local development in Europe. It will be held on 29-31st May 2017 in Brussels.

The European Development Days (EDD) bring the development community together each year to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Among various events, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission is organising a lab debate will concentrate on "Territorial innovation policy, a promising area for Africa-EU cooperation". It will focus on the challenges and opportunities for the design of African-led Smart Specialisations Strategies. It will be held on 8th June 2017 in Brussels.

The S3 Platform on Energy (S3PEnergy) is organising a workshop in the framework of the European Sustainable Energy Week 2017 (EUSEW17). Dedicated to managing authorities, industry & SMEs, researchers and other stakeholders, the event aims at showcasing how different sectors of society are taking action in the field of energy thanks to smart specialisation. It will take place on 21st June 2017 in Brussels (Charlemagne Building - Jerkins room).

The second edition of the high-level Smart Regions event will provide the opportunity for stakeholders to share their experience of how smart specialisation has been implemented in their countries and regions. It will enable project promoters to interact and find cooperation partners across EU in areas such as energy, agri-food, industrial modernisation, cybersecurity, health, and the maritime industry.

The Smart Stories reflect the way in which managing authorities have used the S3 concept to develop their own innovation-driven development policies at national and regional level. This month, evidence is presented from Bulgaria with a focus on stakeholders' engagement.

Through its adoption and adaptation towards regional development, the smart specialisation concept has become a powerful instrument for place-based innovation-driven growth. An example would be the "Brightlands programme" developed in the Dutch region of Limburg, which provides support to university campuses for creating science and industry clusters.

The S3 Platform's pilot project with Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine is entering its operational phase, which includes the mapping of economic, scientific and innovation potential, with the contribution of an expert team and local partners. Policy-makers and analysts from partner countries confirmed their strong commitment for this evidence-based and participatory process during a recent three-day meeting in Chisinau (MD). The mapping results will serve as a basis for planning and implementing a series of stakeholder dialogues to develop detailed priority domains and cross-sectoral niches jointly.

Following the event on "Smart Specialisation in Latin America", the smart specialisation platform invited stakeholders to share their views on the progress of S3 in their respective countries. Experts from Brazil, Peru and El Salvador provided their testimonies.